New Goals Set for Improving Latino Education

Los Angeles Times

Published
4:00 am PDT, Friday, June 16, 2000

2000-06-16 04:00:00 PDT Washington -- The White House unveiled a set of goals yesterday designed to eliminate or narrow existing gaps in the educational attainment of Latino students over the next 10 years, including a commitment to English language proficiency for high school graduates.

The goals, to be presented at a White House strategy session, would urge substantial improvement in education for Latino children from preschool through college. Plans for achieving such gains are likely to stir disagreement, especially on the politically sensitive subject of how to attain English language proficiency.

Whatever the means, the gains must be achieved both to lift low-income Latinos and to strengthen the national labor force in an era of rapid growth in the Latino population, said White House Deputy Chief of Staff Maria Echaveste. While progress has been made in narrowing differences in the educational attainments of white, African American and Latino students in some areas, Latinos continue to trail by substantial margins overall.

"For our economy, for the advancement of this community . . . gaps of this nature are just unacceptable," Echaveste said.

High school graduation rates, for example, are now virtually the same for blacks and whites, about 88 percent, but rates for Latinos are about 63 percent.

Similarly, the proportion of Latinos who graduate from four-year colleges is less than half that of white students, according to an analysis by the president's Council of Economic Advisers, which was prepared for the White House strategy session.

Not surprisingly, the council's report found that in the present economy, lower levels of education carry severe penalties in terms of income. Twenty years ago, the report said, a male Latino student who graduated from college could expect to earn 67 percent more than a male Latino who failed to complete college. Today, the average earnings difference is 146 percent.

The administration will propose goals for improvement by 2010 in five areas:

-- Raise participation in high- quality preschool programs at least to the national average. About 45 percent of white 3-year-olds and almost 50 percent of blacks are enrolled in preschool centers, compared with less than 30 percent of Latinos, according to the Department of Education'sNational Center for Education Statistics.

-- Ensure that all Latino students graduating from high school demonstrate proficiency in English.

-- Eliminate achievement gaps between Latino and other students in elementary, middle and high schools, as measured by state tests and other standards. Though results vary in different schools and localities, Latinos score lower on such tests than other groups.

-- Increase Latino high school completion rates to 90 percent.

-- Double the percentage of Latino Americans who earn associate and bachelor's degrees.